Insignia ornament



July 21, 1942. w. FORSTNER INSIGNIA ORNAMENT Filed Aug. 12, 1940 INVENTO 2 M ATTORNEY Patented July 21, 1942 IN SIGNIA ORNAMENT William Forstner, Irvington, N. J., assi'gnor to Forstneri' Chain Corporation,. a corporation of New Jersey Application August 12, 1940;. Serial No. 352,262"

2 Claims;

My present. invention' relates: to the jewelry art, and'has particular. reference to a novel construction for interchangeably mounting ornaments.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide an ornament holder arrangement in which selected ornaments, as for example initial letters, may be interchangeably mounted.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide a construction which will retain a selected ornament against accidental detachment or separation, and which will permit removal of a selected ornament and mounting of another ornament in place thereof.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simplified construction which may be readily manufactured with standard shop machines, thus reducing the cost of manufacture.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the novel ornament holder having interchangeable ornaments;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the base thereof;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the cover or frame therefor;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an end view of Fig. 4;

Fig. '7 is a transverse section of the insignia ornament shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the same;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of an interchangeable ornament, the particular embodiment shown consisting of an initial letter; and

Fig. 10 is a section on the line 88 of Fig. '7.

It has been found desirable to provide a novel construction for replaceable ornaments, which utilizes an ornament base on which one or more selected ornaments may be readily mounted, as by sliding the ornaments in suitable mountings provided on the base, a frame then slidingly engaging the base so as to cooperate with the base to prevent removal of the ornament therefrom, the base having a part extending to a suitable opening or the like in the frame and engageable by a releasable lock element of any desired type to prevent accidental separation of the base and the frame.

Referring to the drawing, the novel ornament holder 1' comprisesa base H which is of the shape illustrated in Fig. 2, and is preferably stamped out of sheet metal. The base has sides l2, l3, an end portion l4, and a top portion l5 which is provided with an outwardly extending tab l5 having an opening H. The base preferably has a central opening 18, and the inner portions of the sides l2 are bent outwardly to form flanges I9 and 20, see Fig. 3,

which are turned towards each other and are provided with edges 2|, 22. The edges 2|, 22 form guides along which a selected ornament having a cooperating groove, as hereinafter described, may be slid, the lower end l4 being inclined outwardly to provide an end stop 23 against which the ornament rests to limit sliding movement outwardly.

Referring now to Figs. 9 and 10, the ornaments may be of any desired shape or ornamentation, an illustrative ornament being illustrated as an initial letter 24, which has its sides 25 and 26 provided with grooves 21, 28 to slidably engage the flange edges 2|, 22. One ornament of suitable size, or a plurality of ornaments may be slid over the front portion of the base to engage the ornament grooves with the flange edges and thus mount the ornament or ornaments on the base, a frame 29, see Fig. 4, being used to lock the ornament within the base. The frame 29 is also preferably made of sheet metal, and has two sides 30, 3| which are turned over as shown in Fig. 5, to slidingly engage and to telescope over the sides l2, [3 of the base ll. Preferably, the frame is provided with a central opening 32 of similar size to the base opening l8, whereby ornaments such as cutout initial letters have their attractiveness increased. The lower portion 33 of the frame seats under the lower end M of the base, and the upper portion 34 is preferably formed as an upright flange or dished housing, the inner edge 35 thereof being in the plane of the base flange edges 2| and 22 to serve as an end stop for limiting outward sliding movement of the ornament or ornaments, the flange or housing 34 having a slot 36 through which the tab I6 of the base extends, as shown in Figs. 5-8, to expose the opening [1, whereby any releasable catch such as a swivel catch or an end connection or the like 31, may be passed through the opening l1 and around the top or edge thereof to lock the frame on the base and prevent separation therefrom, and therefore to lock the ornament Within the base against accidental displacement or removal. Preferably, the releasable hook or end connection 31 may be attached to a chain portion 38 which may form part of a key chain or the like.

While I have described a specific construc tional embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that changes in the size and shape of the parts, in the relative arrangement of the parts, and in the means used for effecting the locking of the ornament or ornaments against accidental removal or displacement, may be made to suit the requirements for different ornamental designs, and for difierent uses, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a jewelry ornament, a base having sides, spaced flanges on said sides extending towards each other and provided with edges, an ornament having side grooves adapted to slidingly seat on said flange edges, said base having an end stop to limit sliding movement of said ornament in one direction, a frame having an open end and sides telescopingly slidable over said base sides, the other end of said frame constituting a stop for the ornament to limit sliding movement thereof in the opposite direction, and means for locking said frame to said base.

2. In a jewelry ornament, a base having sides, spaced flanges on said sides extending towards each other and provided with edges, an ornament having side grooves adapted to slidingly seat on said flange edges, said base having an end stop to limit sliding movement of said ornament in one direction, a frame having an open end and sides telescopingly slidable over said base sides, the other end of said frame constituting a stop for the ornament to limit sliding movement thereof in the opposite direction, and means for locking said frame to said base comprising a slot in said other end of the frame,

a part on said base adapted to extend through said slot, and means engaging said part to prevent withdrawal through said slot.

WILLIAM FORSTNER. 

